


Above the Horizon Line

by Thebeescharmer



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Pirates, only Felix is a sweet heart, so it's kind of violent, some blood but it's kind of okay, they're not sweethearts they're pirates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 19:14:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18079298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thebeescharmer/pseuds/Thebeescharmer
Summary: As Hyunjin is only getting used to freedom, he crosses the path of Chris, dangerous pirate captain, and wishes he fell into a net instead.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> 1/ This fic is a long version of my OS “Above the horizon line” from my Stray kids OS series (you can go read it after this-ahem). For the ones who red the OS already, yas the beginning is the same, because I was so proud of my beginning I re-used it (yes, I’m like that), but as it is the same story, it’s ok (trying to find an excuse lmao).  
> 2/ In this story, mermaids are the same as the ones from the pirates of the Caribbean’s universe, if you saw the movie. If not: under-water vampires that drink human blood to survive, are incredibly pretty and are attracted by music.  
> 3/ English is still not my first language, so if you see a mistake, please tell me in the comments so I can correct it! thank you my dear people.

Hyunjin was running for dear life. his breath short in his ribcage, his black hair falling in his face hiding the panting mouth that opened to swallow air as he tried to put on some distance between him and the family’s men.

Being a maid for 19 years was not the best thing that ever happened to Hyunjin, and the fact that the young master of the family was finally coming of age and manifesting signs of want towards the young man was not in his plans.

Being beaten up in the basement, he could take, being spoken down on, he could take, but being groped and looked at as if he was a piece of meat ready for the meal, that was a no-no. as the man following him started to lower their pace, he ran even faster, the desire to survive and to escape this life of misery tremendously higher than the pain holding his legs.

When he arrived at the harbour, the water clapping against the docks and the smell of the salt climbed up his throat. The first thing he noticed was a boat, an enormous boat that was apparently ready to go as the sails were out and ready.

Before he could realize, he ran towards the deck, and rushed on the boat, praying for the crew not to notice his presence. Far away, he heard their voices coming closer, alarming people walking around the harbour this late at night.

When he finally breathed and let go of his worries, the boat started to move, and his lithe body curled up in the hold behind a couple of barrels that smelled like rum. At the back of his mind, he realised that now, his only option was to pray for god to save him and lend him the strength he needed.

 

 

The uniform was a little bit too loose on him and covered his thin frame like a potato bag. It didn’t seem to bother the crew who didn’t pay attention to him, imagining he was one of the new sailors that embark during the last stop at the harbour.

The work was hard, but much more enjoyable than scraping the floor of a giant manor. It’s as if Hyunjin was made for that, that his bones were engraved with the smell, the colours of the sea. It didn’t feel as if his soul was weighting on his body anymore, he finally felt free.

Mornings like this were his treasure. He had been on duty this night, perched in the rigging, his fingers hooked like ones of a seagull on the ropes, his eyes fixed on the sea. The dark of the night sky suddenly started to sparkle with red and  orange hues, like stars piercing through the shadows to light up the sky.

The sea reflected those colours, illuminating the water with iridescent flakes of diamonds and rubies and sapphires. The wind picked up in the sails, inflating them and making the boat gently dance from one side to another, lulling Hyunjin in a trance like state.

A gentle breeze caressed his cheek, almost cradling his face in its palms. Here, on top of the world, with the sea and the wind, with no horizon line but the water expending like a giant bed Hyunjin could lay on and rest for the rest of his life. the sea had always been his element, his fate, he knew it, since that day were he almost lost his soul to it.

_The Kim family was a well-know and renowned people in his town. The elder servants told him that they found him on the beach, naked and cold. The family took him to raise him as a servant, and enslaved him as he had nowhere else to go._

_He was height when it first happened._

_His lungs were full of water, his body filling up with the salty taste and the weight of the waves leading him down further from the surface. He had trouble keeping his head clear, his body was numb from the cold of the liquid surrounding him._

_His legs kicked in the emptiness, trying to come out of the water but only sinking further into the darkness. He was about to surrender, about to let go._

_A gentle caress cradle his legs, his movements stopping to feel the strange immaterial hold take matter in its own hand, his body felt lighter, his head clearer as he opened his eyes, his body entirely enveloped with that warm embrace that made him stop drowning, holding him up and preventing him from sinking deeper into the ocean._

_His eyes were blurry, the water around him were dim, but he in a way was able to see through them, his eyes not burning like they should when entering in contact with the salty water. His bright blue eyes opened wide when he saw it, a form, watery and barely darker than the rest of the sea, but here, around him, like a streak of dark paint in a glass full of clear water. The form was moving slowly, undulating like a giant octopus, gently and floating._

_A face came out of the foggy figure, a woman’s face, so dazzling that Hyunjin had trouble looking at her, her bright blue eyes, the same colour as Hyunjin’s plunged in his, before a smile graced her features, and hands came cradling his cheeks._

_The next time he woke up, he was laid down on the docks, his lungs functioning decently and his body completely relaxed. When he glanced at the sea, it seemed to stare back at him with the same fondness as the woman of the water did._

_“I knew you were special” told him one of the eldest servants, one of those who raised him in this hell of a manor._

_“special ?” his height years old brain didn’t comprehend things as well as he would later on, but the stare the aged lady gave him made him understand the weight of this discovery._

_“you’re one of them”_

_“one of who ?” the old woman kneeled before him, lightly tucking a strand of his long dark hair behind his ear._

_“your black hair, wavy like the deep parts of the sea, your bright blue eyes that have the same colour as the sky before a storm, your beauty, coming right from tales about mermaids and incredible creatures. Hyunjin, you’re one of them. Your mother surely lost you in that tempest raging when we found you.”_

_“She didn’t abandon me then ?”_

_“your mother is somewhere out there Hyunjin, waiting for you to come back to the sea, but no one has to know Jinnie, no one do you understand, never”_

_“yes mam”_

 

“SHIP IN VIEW !”

“THAT’S A PIRATE BOAT !”

“GRAB YOUR WEAPONS ! GUNS READY FOR FIRE !”

Hyunjin’s eyes opened wide, his legs trembling as his fingers gripped the ropes tightly. On the horizon line a ship, huge compared to theirs and looking frightening was running up in their direction, swallowing the waters like a hungry beast. 

The boat came closer and Hyunjin, still suspended in the riggings looked at the dark shell than sported the name “Howling Mary”. Hyunjin paled as he recognised this name as one of the worst pirate ships of those seas, led by the crew of sailors spat out of hell.

The figurehead seemed to be burning, the mermaid peering at the boat’s crew with a mocking smile on her face. And that’s when he saw a bunch of grapnels coming out of nowhere and planting themselves in the wood of the boat that he doubted his choice of boarding on this ship two months ago.

Pirates were never fond of the English navy’s boats.


	2. 2

The boarding had been violent, bloody. Swords and guns drawing out red and crimson from everywhere. The royal crew had been taking down pretty quickly, throats slaughtered and heads falling down and rolling on the ground, Hyunjin had been about to throw up when their captain’s belly opened and threw up his organs on the deck of the boat.

When the last gun shot was fired, the pirate crew was still intact, and the few members of the royal crew left was kneeling down on the ground, faces down while the pirates were running on the boat, taking whatever they needed and could embark on their ship. For the rest of the crew, everyone knew that the ship would be taken down as soon as the pirates would go back on their boat. The question was were the pirates going to kill them before or let them sink with the boat.

When the one who seemed to be the captain took out his gun and shot the rest of the crew one by one, Hyunjin deemed those pirates had at least the decency to not let the poor men be eaten up by sharks.

Hyunjin was the last one of the line, his knees hurting on the wood of the floor, but not trembling the slightest.

“this one looks like he’s not afraid of dying”

Hyunjin raised his head up, throwing a glance at the pirate crew that he had only seen through the smoke of the guns and the mayhem of the fight until now. They were height in total, which was ridiculous compared to the thirty members crew that they took down so easily.

The man who just spoke looked young, actually they all looked young, barely twenty maybe. He had freckled cheeks and immense bright chocolate orbs that were partially hidden by strawberry blond locks.

A whistle came out of another pirate’s mouth, a puny one with dark eyes and hair and a sharp face, pointy shin that had a gun in each hand.

“pretty”

Hyunjin knew he was pretty, gorgeous even. But he didn’t want to be stared at by a bunch of murderers that didn’t worth more than his previous masters that molested him and touched him in inappropriate places.

His face contorted in anger and he spat at the feet of the one who spoke, his bright blue eyes looking like storm and thunders that raged inside his soul.

“don’t even look at me you maggot”

The pirate’s face sported a surprised expression for a second, before falling in an amused rictus. All around him his crew laughed and patted him on the shoulders. Those pirates were surely something else.

Hyunjin had no time to glance at the others before a pair of heavy black leather boots stepped in front of him. The silence fell on the boat, as the smell of the cadavers around them started to raise with the heat of the morning sun. Hyunjin wanted to throw up, his throat constricted around a huge lump, but he raised his head anyway.

His eyes followed the two powerful legs clamped in all black, just like the heavy coat and large shirt that covered the man’s muscular chest. On his head was put a large captain tricorn, that casted shadows on a young but fierce looking face.

His jaw was sharp, his eyes fakely kind and hooded and his lips plump and soft looking. That man was freaking impressive and Hyunjin had trouble keeping his eyes in those very intimidating ones that held a powerful gaze.

“who are you ?”

“I’m a sailor of this ship”

Hyunjin’s voice faltered a little bit in his throat as the man raised his gun towards his head, pointing the canon on the middle of his forehead.

“I’ve seen enough navy’s sailor to recognise a fake one when I see it. Your uniform is too big for you and you look more like a doll than a seaman.”

“you don’t have to tell me what I am, you know nothing about me”

“I know enough about life to understand when I come face to face with a landman that should have stayed in harbour”

“fuck you and all your crew you dirty asshole”

Hyunjin had barely the time to finish his sentence before a hefty hand held him up by the throat, grip tight around his neck, making him unable to breath. His feet were not touching the ground anymore when his face came an inch close to the pirate captain, behind him his crew was not smiling anymore.

The anger and the hatred he saw on this handsome face was almost enough to frighten Hyunjin, almost. He was tempted for a moment to spit on this face, but the glare the man was sporting made him unable to try. That man held power on him, and not just because of the hand around his throat.

“I’ll ask one last time, who are you ?”

“I told you, I’m a sailor on this ship”

“I thought I made myself clear when I said one last time. I don’t like dealing with liars.”

Suddenly, the hand around his throat was gone, as Hyunjin collapsed on the deck, his head banging hard on the wooden surface of the deck. Next thing he knew, his body was thrown up above the boat deck, and he was falling down in the ocean.

 

 

 Hyunjin opened his eyes after a while, his body now used to the feeling of the water around his legs and his torso. His throat was full of water, his lungs breathing in and out the waves that gently rocked him from side to side.

Trying to move his legs, a weird sensation took place in his lower body, as a long unique member moved under him. When his two blue eyes lowered in the darkness of the water, distinguishing a giant, iridescent form in place of his legs.

The long, thin mermaid tail started from his hips, dark black scales with blue and green reflects covering his white skin. The tail getting thinner as it went down finished in a delicate looking fin.

Hyunjin smiled at the unfamiliar sight, before moving slightly from side to side, creating compact waves around him. Somehow, the sensation was calming, agreeable, as if it was meant to be. Smiling brightly, the mermaid started to sway slowly, gracefully dancing in the water. His scales gliding into the water naturally. He was in his element.

Suddenly, a dark, enormous shadow passed above him, running on the surface of the sea like a bird on the expanse of the sky. The dark shell of the pirate ship left the area like a ghost, when Hyunjin turned around, a gigantic form started to sink into the water. The navy boat was falling deeper and deeper, resembling a patch of ink on the emptiness of the blue sea surrounding her.

Not really knowing what to do, Hyunjin started to swim with some difficulty, following the dark form that fled with the wind, leaving behind him the wreck and the bodies following its fell.

 

Hyunjin followed the Howling Mary until they stopped in a nearby harbour. He decided he needed to go out of the water, needed to search for someone or something to inform him on where they landed. He needed food also, he was hungry.

Coming out of the water was not as pleasant as entering it Hyunjin decided. He felt cold, as if devoid of something that he needed, as if a part of him had been ripped out of him. When he climbed out of the water on the deck, his scales slowly melted into a foggy illusion before his legs appeared where previously his tail was. He had trouble to walk at first, but quickly retrieved his human reflexes.

Hyunjin wasn’t stupid, and the servant who raised him wasn’t either. As soon as she knew that Hyunjin was one of them, she told him everything he needed to grasp on mermaids, caecelias, and other creatures of the seas.

Hyunjin always was more interested in mermaids more than any other creature, however, call it fate. So that’s why he knew very well how he needed to feed, and what to do about the hunger that clawed at his belly and was not like any other anger he experienced before. He guessed his first transformation into his real form triggered his mermaid’s needs.

He needed blood.

 

 

Hyunjin found what he was searching for in a deserted alley, he could not go far away into the undersized town, as he was only wearing his old white and too large shirt that covered his body only down to his thighs. The town seemed to be a pirate shelter, seeing as they roamed freely on the streets, groping prostitutes passing by or fighting over for a bottle of rum.

He needed to feed himself and calm this raging fire in his gut before going back to the sea and start looking for his family. He walked a little bit, leaving the docks to wander into an empty alley where he saw someone walk before him.

When he turned and entered the narrow-darkened corner, he came face to face with a man, tucking in back his three-piece as he was apparently finished with taking a piss.

“charming”

Hyunjin snorted, his face contorted in disgust as he took in the disgusting creature before him. The man’s eyes roamed his body up from down, a cruel smirk painting itself on his face. Hyunjin smiled with a fake sweet expression.

Due to his doll face and his thin frame, people tended to consider Hyunjin a fragile little thing that would not hurt them. But hey, years of being abused and treated as dirt had that effect on people. It made them turn so much cruel than what they were.

Hyunjin smirked, his sweet smile turning into a threatening snarl as two pointy and long fangs started to grow behind his teeth. The two blue eyes darkened, sparkling dangerously into the night, turning to storm.

“bon appetite”

 

 

The blood was still dripping from his lips when the large man’s body collapsed on the ground like a ragdoll. Gently humming, Hyunjin sucked on his bloodied fingers like a treat, creating soft sucking noises that echoed in the alley.

“thanks for the meal asshole”

“I told you he was too pretty to be human”

Hyunjin almost jumped from surprise when the low-pitched voice was heard. When he lifted his face, blood all over his mouth and neck, the sight he came face to face with was not in his plans.

A gun was pointed on him, linked to it the same captain that threw him over the desk of his boat. The pirate crew was behind him, not amused with the way Hyunjin let his eyes roam over their leader’s body. The mermaid smiled, his fangs showing as he hungrily peered at the man’s chest revealed by an open white shirt.

“I hate pirates”


	3. 3

His body was aching, his legs had trouble maintaining him as he was attached to the big mast of the pirate ship. His white bloodied shirt stuck to his body, revealing his thin muscular frame that had some pirate lose their focus on their task.

When the captain came, an enormous knife in hand, and cut the ropes maintaining him against the mast, he smiled sweetly at him, which made the other highly displeased as he pointed the knife under his chin.

“stop smiling like that fish”

“something telling me you’d like to tap that fish”

Hyunjin was very pleased with the way the captain’s eyes darkened and the crew snickered behind him. He was suddenly dragged after the tall and broad man, his lithe frame forced by the wrist as he laughed lightly.

 

The captain’s cabin was exactly like what Hyunjin imagined it to be. Dark wooden walls were covered with tapestries, paintings and navigation devices. On a mahogany desk that should cost a fortune, dozens of maps and other stuffs were lithered, a bottle of ink dangerously trembling with each move the boat took.

“now, will you finally tell me what you were doing on the Prince ?”

The pirate was glaring at him from one of the large windows that occupied the back wall of the cabin and showcased the sea outside the Howling Mary. His eyes were focused on the black-haired beauty, fierce and waiting.

“I told you, I was a sailor on that boat. And I’m not lying so no need to throw me out the window. Again.”

The pirate’s face sported a deep frown as he walked up to Hyunjin, his tall and broad frame more menacing with each step he took.

“you’re not a navy sailor”

“never said I was, just told you I was a sailor on that boat”

“then how did you find yourself on a royal navy’s boat ?”

“I come from a small town called Fringen, I fled from the family that I was working as a servant for and embarked on the first boat I saw.”

“not very clever for a mermaid”

“fuck you”

Suddenly a hefty hand was clad around his throat, and his body thrown in the wall with much more force than necessary.

“don’t fuck with me fish, I could kill you right now”

“do it then”

Their faces were almost touching as their noses brushed against each other, their eyes never looking elsewhere than deep down in the other’s stare.

“Listen here captain, I don’t fucking want any business with your crew or you, pirates are not my cup of tea. Now be a sweetie, and kill me or let me go.”

“I don’t fancy letting people who know my boat’s location go that easily”

“oh please, if you didn’t understood the first time, I’m a fucking mermaid, I don’t care about humans’ business.”

“except when it involve emptying them of their blood”

Hyunjin laughed, and was about to answer when the door of the cabin opened hastily and banged on the wall behind it.

“captain I-”

The freckled boy stopped dead in his words when he took in the proximity of the two men before him, eyes suddenly shining with tears as he brows furrowed.

“I’ll come back later”

“Felix wait!”

But the young-looking man was long gone, face scrunched up in a broken-hearted expression as he fled through the boat’s hallway.

“he’s cute, you should go after him, lover captain”

“I swear if you don’t shut the fuck up I’m throwing you at the sea”

When the absurdity of what he said came up to his brain, the pirate captain groaned and released his hold from the mermaid’s pale and thin neck. Hyunjin was smiling deviously, blue eyes shining like the sky before the storm.

“that’s actually what I’m asking for you genius”

“CAPTAIN! LAND IN SIGHT!”

At that, the broad man let go totally of the mermaid, observing him with an unsure eye as the other smiled to him.

“well what are you waiting for?”

 

“let go of me you son of BITCH!”

The pirate let go of his wrist the moment they arrived on the boat, careful to keep an eye on him as he took in the field-glass and pointed it where his crew member was gesturing him to.

“Jisung, you keep an eye on the fish”

“yes captain”

A strong hold, even stronger than the previous pirate’s one took control of his arm, harshly pulling him on his feet. Hyunjin’s backside collided with the foremast so hard he actually whimpered, earning himself a glare and an eye-roll from the freckled boy who was glaring at him with nothing but hatred.

“don’t look at me like this child, I won’t steal your precious man”

The boy reddened on the cheeks, turning his face away as he mumbled to himself.

“Felix stop that, and you shut the fuck up creature”

Felix nodded shamefully, head hung low as he went to his comrades, not without throwing the mermaid a nasty glance on the way.

Hyunjin huffed, rolling his eyes all the way back into his skull as he started to pout. However, the expression soon fell off his face when he raised his bright blue eyes on the pirate holding him in place.

The man was broad, less than their captain, but broad none-the-less, with heavy muscles running under the tanned skin. His caramel flesh was lithered with more or less thin scares that appeared white under the sun light.

Under the over-sized cream shirt, Hyunjin could see several golden necklaces that were strikingly stunning when lithered on the smooth and muscular golden chest. His long legs were held tight inside dark brown pants and calf-high black leather boots.

Hyunjin’s eyes were eager to see more of him, more of this feral beauty that made his skin shake on his bones.

The pirate studied him, immense dark brown eyes plunging in the sky blue one, as long sandy blonde strands of hair covered his face and the dangling golden earrings on both his ears.

It’s as if Hyunjin was pulled towards him, as if this pirate in front of him called for him without even opening his mouth. Plunging into those brown sparkling eyes that held so much experience despite his young age, Hyunjin felt his heart hammer inside his chest.

“don’t look at me like that fish, I’m not your next meal”

Coming back down in reality was harder than Hyunjin expected when the man hissed at him and looked at his body with nothing but disgust. Hyunjin was not used to that kind of treatment, and when those lovely lips spat right on his shoes, his heart shattered a little in his chest.

“Changbin, you hold the fish, I can’t stand its smell”

Several crew members snickered at that, looking amusedly at the both of them. The sharp face pirate came to him, taking hold of where was previously the tanned hand, and squeezing the arm tightly. Hyunjin felt the warmth of the caramel skin going away, and resisted the urge to lash himself onto the pirate and burry his face in the tender neck.

“what is happening to you?”

Hyunjin stared at the brunette, eyes wide open when he realised he let himself slide against the foremast and was now sitting down on the boat’s deck, legs trembling and eyes foggy from his tears.

“hey, what’s happening to him?”

“I don’t know, CAPTAIN THE FISH IS ACTING STRANGE!”

Tears rolled down on his cheeks, as the unbearable pain spread in his chest and started to suffocate him. What was happening to him, he didn’t comprehend, nothing of that kind ever occurred. His senses started to cloud, eyes letting free of the tears they held.

His head was ringing, cold and metallic sound echoing in his mind as his vision was blurred by a thick black smoke curtain.

Its smell

Its smell

_Its smell_

_“let’s go before the seagulls come and start to feast, I can’t already stand its fucking smell”_

_The men around his owner laughed with those screeching voices of them, quickly dropping the fishing net they held. A loud thud echoed in the harbour, as the heavy weight collapsed on the ground, a dark form still laying tangled inside the net._

_As their steps went away, lost in the darkness of the streets, the tiny Hyunjin peaked out of his hide behind rum crates, and approached with trembling steps._

_A sudden, light pitched scream echoed in the shadows of the night, frail silhouette falling on its knees when his eyes landed on the form in the net._

_His hand soon were covered in blood as he frantically tried to detangle the mess of the net, crying and sobbing each time his thin fingers came in contact with the sombre mass. Hyunjin took her inside his arms, crying so loud he should have been afraid of the men coming back, but he didn’t care. His mind was gone, fogged by pain as he rocked back and forth, petite body cold and unmoving in his arms._

_Her tail had been cut off her body, leaving only the upper part of her torso bare of any fabric. Her hair were tangled, some parts of her scalp bald as she surely fought to get away from her cruel fate. Hyunjin looked at that pale skin that still showed some scale, already starting to dry like rice paper at the contact of the air._

_His heart was shattered inside his chest, as he caressed so tenderly the chubby cheeks where tears tracks could still be seen. The same bright blue eyes were piercing through him, all life gone from them as the blood seeped through the cracks of the pavement and circled both bodies._

_Hyunjin was shaking so hard he could feel his knees scrape against the pavement, his own blood mixing with the one of the poor creature he held inside his arms._

_They killed her._


	4. Chapter 4

His body was being rocked gently from side to side, head laid down on a somewhat plush bag of provisions.

Opening his eyes that were heavy from sleep and other feelings, Hyunjin sat on his butt, taking in the space he was trapped in.

He was actually in the hold of the boat, laid amongst bags of food and barrels full of alcohol. The mermaid smelled around, face scrunching up at the horrible smell of powder stocked near him. He was slightly lost, and raising his hand to his chest to seek for comfort, he panicked when he didn’t felt his most prised possession around his neck.

 Suddenly, steps echoed from the stairs, and Hyunjin had barely the time to raise up on his feet, when the freckled boy came down, gun in his hand. He raised the weapon on Hyunjin as soon as he saw the other one was awake, eyes fierce as they glimpsed at the black-haired beauty.

“I could kill you right now”

“go on kid, I’m waiting for it”

The strawberry-blonde boy frowned deeply, hand slightly trembling as it held the gun unsurely. Hyunjin looked at the child with a frown on his face, but his eyes were calm and not any trace of the usual sass he showed was to be seen.

“listen there freckled, I don’t fucking care about your captain, nor about your boat, or your entire crew, I just want to fucking go back to the ocean, so please stop trying to intimidate me, we both know you will not pull that trigger”

“I’ve already killed dozens of man, don’t take me for a weak”

“killing someone in the daze of a fight is much different that killing people while facing them.”

“and how could you know that?”

“you’re talking to a mermaid idiot”

Felix huffed, but lowered the gun he held to his side, hands clenching and unclenching.

“you sure don’t want anything from Chris do you?”

“I just want him to fucking release me, for the rest he’s all yours, I don’t fancy humans in my bed”

“except maybe Jisung”

Hyunjin held back the urge to choke on air when the boy smiled smugly at him, eyebrow raised all the way back into his hairline. Ignoring the way this name made his heart clench in his chest, Hyunjin hissed at the pirate, all amusement gone from his gorgeous face.

“humans are monsters, I don’t want anything to do with you”

At that, Felix frowned, but closed his mouth, even though curiosity was written all over his face.

“you have to follow me, they’re waiting for you”

Hyunjin huffed, but didn’t try anything when Felix opened the metallic door of the cage he was in, and let him out of it, gun still tight in his fist.

Hyunjin glanced at him from the corner of his eyes but followed the movement as the puny pirate pushed him to climb up the stairs.

He still had something to recover before escaping.

 

 

“Captain, here he is”

The bright sunlight momentarily blinded him as they stepped outside the boat and on the deck. Eyes quickly adapting, he searched around only to find the entire crew all sat down or standing in circle, the pirate captain facing him from his sat position on the boat rail.

“well, sleeping fish is up”

“call me fish once more and I’ll end your miserable existence human”

The captain’s eyes slightly widen, but his face soon held that amused expression on it as he took in Hyunjin’s unamused one.

“watch your words mermaid”

“watch your back, pirate”

At that, some crew members stood up, weapons out as they glared angrily at the mermaid, still looking unimpressed and hostile to the crew.

“give me my necklace back you thief, I know you have it”

The boat’s captain smiled smugly at him, hand burying itself in his coat’s pocket to retrieve something. When it came out, holding a thin leather string, Hyunjin let go of the breath he was holding.

“what is this?”

The veiny hand holding the jewellery rocked it lightly, making the black heart shaped scale shine under the sun rays.

“it’s none of your fucking business”

“if you don’t tell me, I drop it into the ocean”

At that, Hyunjin’s eyes shot open, sky blue turning icy as they filled with panic.

“DON’T! it’s a scale! A mermaid’s scale”

Chris smiled at that, rocking the scale back and forth to tempt the man before him, face smug.

“it has to be rare and very, very pricey”

“no..”

“if I sell this, I could make my crew live for a long time”

“no! please! It’s precious to me!”

The pirate frowned, eyes piercing through him as he tried to hold in his fear and panic, which he failed to do, seeing how the crew raised their eyebrows at his trembling frame.

“then answer me, what is it?”

“it’s one of my sister’s scales, please this is the only thing I have left from her”

His voice was thin in his throat, eyes filled with tears once again as they glanced franticly from the pirate’s face to his hand. The mermaid’s heart was beating so loud it could be heard from outside his chest, ears not functioning correctly as he stared at his most praised possession about to be thrown at the sea.

“I didn’t know mermaids had a family”

Glancing at one very young-looking pirate, the captain frowned and focused back on the trembling mermaid, hand retreating from above the rail where he was previously holding the jewel, noticing how the brunette’s breathe came back when his necklace was safe on the boat.

“what happened to your sister?”

“your kind killed her”

“she shouldn’t have threaten them then”

Ignoring the glare his captain gave him, the sharp face pirate shrugged, and Hyunjin saw red.

“She was only six, and was waiting for me in the harbour water to come and tell her about my day as a slave for your kind. They killed her, cut off her tail to leave her rot and get eaten by seagulls. Don’t you dare think you have any right to say something about her”

As the pirate was about to answer something, the captain raised his hand to shush him, large frame standing up and coming slowly to the mermaid, necklace still snug in his hand. In front of Hyunjin, he took in the distressed state of the mermaid, frame much smaller than usual as it was hunched and shaking slightly.

“why didn’t you escape from your slavery?”

“the servant who found me when I was separated from my mother, if I had disappeared before she died of old age, they would have tortured her to know where I went”

Raising his brow, the captain tilted his head on the side.

“you staid for a human?”

“I’m not stupid. I know you don’t all deserve to die. I just hate the majority of you”

At that, the captain chuckled, eyes much gentler when they observed the mermaid, and Felix’s widen stare that looked at the back of Hyunjin’s body. Circling the mermaid, Chris took in the numerous scares on the mermaid’s back, all due to obvious whip lashes.

 “why were you on that navy boat?”

The mermaid was hesitant to answer, eyes closing as he held tears from rolling down on his cheeks.

“I wanted to reach White Cap bay, to join my mother and announce her the death of her child. Travelling on a boat would have prevented me from being caught by nets or sea predators.”

Chris sighted, coming back to face the mermaid and look him in the eyes. Reaching out his hand, he let the necklace fell in Hyunjin’s palm, smiling slightly when the mermaid closed his fist around it and brought it to his lips.

“what’s your name mermaid?”

His eyes were bright blue, shining with tears as he studied the man before him with another expression that hatred or mischief, thankfulness.

“Hyunjin”

“well, Hyunjin I give you the choice. Or you get off my boat now and go to your destination by your own ways. Or you stay with us, as a part of my crew for the next month. We’re heading to the Death Crate’s eye, an island very close to White cap bay, you’ll be able to reach it in two or three hours depending on how fast you swim.”

Hyunjin’s face was lost, as much as the boat’s crew when they heard their captain’s words.

“why would you do that?”

“let’s say I know what you’ve been through, and I also know that if you genuinely wanted to kill us, you would already have.”

At that, Hyunjin’s cheeks reddened, his eyes lowering to the ground when the captain took his chin between two of his fingers.

“more sass than bark, I actually quite like you so, if you want to stay, then I guess you’re free to do so”

As the captain’s back retreated in the boat’s belly, he felt the waves of the ocean beat the shell, and the wind ruffle his hair.

“I’ll stay”

 


	5. Chapter 5

Maybe being part of a pirate boat was not as hard or insufferable as Hyunjin would have first guessed. His job was the exact same as the one on the navy’s boat, always up in the rigging, he had a wonderful view and a great spot to escape from the crew.

The pirates were actually kind of adorable. Okay maybe not adorable, they were pirates anyway, but they were quite friendly, and welcomed him warmly after their captain accepted him in their crew. Absurd enough, his best relation here on the Howling Mary was Felix, the freckled watch and more or less secretly the captain’s lover.

Changbin, the sharp face one was also quite likeable, even if he was still a bit reluctant to sleep next to the mermaid at night, their sleeping hammock next to each other.

Jeongin, the youngest was actually amazed by Hyunjin and his beauty, and often bothered the mermaid to land him his things, like comb or shirts, because he thought it would make him look resemble him.

Woojin and Seungmin were actually lovely, the first once gentle and the second snarky, but Hyunjin could deal with that if it meant joining his mother safe and sound.

Minho on the other hand was mischievous, and the worst prankster in the crew, Felix once told Hyunjin it was his way of showing love. The mermaid had huffed and dusted his red tinted shirt back then, throwing daggers with his eyes as Minho laughed, red spice all over his hands.

The only one Hyunjin had no interactions with was the second in command, Jisung. The ash blonde pirate was very wary of the mermaid, glaring at him any chance he got, and groaning at dinner time when Hyunjin would sit next to him.

Hyunjin would have been worried and hurt to see the only man he felt a pull towards act this way towards him, if it was not for the arousal he smelt each time he got near the man. Jisung wanted him, and it apparently made him sick.

 

The crew had been off the boat as soon as they landed in Tortuga to refuel. They had bought tons of food, clean water, and after the Howling Mary was full, they entire crew stepped in the harbour to have some fun and feel the land under their feet.

Hyunjin staid on board, not keen on mixing with humans which were already annoying sober, he didn’t wante to deal with them drunk.

Walking in the hallway of the boat, he stepped past Chris’ cabin, not bothering to enter, and went straight away to the only other individual cabin of the boat, the second in command’s one.

Opening the door slightly to let his head peak inside of it, he silently went in the close space, looking around and taking in the view. A desk was there, supporting tons of papers, maps, letters and others, with different bottles of ink, some of them spilled everywhere and staining the wood.

A double bed with wooden carved head was standing near the only and large window of the cabin, casting light inside the room and lighting it a little bit more than with only Hyunjin’s oil lamp.

The covers of the bed were made of satin, wine red and soft looking, and Hyunjin had a tingle run along his back at the thought of sleeping in those with the pirate’s strong and scarred arms around his waist. 

Hyunjin often thought about that kind of things, about Jisung’s skin on his, caressing and burning against each other. About those strong hands that were amazing at handling those two enormous swords, squeezing the flesh of his thighs deliciously and making him whimper.

As he thought about those eyes roaming his body and this mouth on his skin, Hyunjin touched slightly the bed cover with the tip of his fingers, imagining in how many ways the pirate could bend his body and fuck him into-

“Can I know what you’re doing here?”

His back suddenly straightened, brain jumped in his skull and heart stopping when the smooth voice echoed behind him. Skin tingly from fear and apprehension. Turning around, he came face to face with a frowning, and very not pleased Jisung which held the door handle tightly in his fist.

“I knew you were a cunning bitch, Chris should have never let you live”

“I don’t allow you to talk to me like this”

“you don’t have anything to say mermaid”

Hyunjin felt the little bit of hair he had on his body raise up to stand when he saw Jisung close the door and turn the key inside the lock, trapping them both inside the room.

“I should have done that long ago”

When Jisung’s hand reached to the back of his belt, retrieving a massive and sharpened knife, Hyunjin felt sweat drip down the sides of his face. Cornered next to the end of the bed and the window, Hyunjin realised now how painless it would be for someone as strong as Jisung to just cut his throat open and throw his body in the water.

“I would just have to say that you chose to return to your kind by yourself, and I would never have to stand your face again”

As Jisung approached, Hyunjin cowered away from the now terrifying man and his knife that shone under the moonlight coming from behind the mermaid. The lamp lit up only one side of this handsome face that appeared more threatening that what Hyunjin could have imagine.

“I would just have to cut your belly open, let your insides spill all over the floor. Tell me, do mermaids have insides? Maybe I’ll find pretty fish bones to make myself a necklace.”

Hyunjin’s back was now tightly pressed against the window, the underside of it painfully digging into his back as he tried desperately to escape the man before him. But his own legs were not cooperating, trembling and refusing to move from their place.

When Jisung came close, face only some inches from Hyunjin’s one, the mermaid whimpered, closing his eyes tightly when they caught sight of the big knife approaching. Hyunjin shuddered, holding back a threatened noise when he felt the cold metal against his cheek, pressing tightly on his skin.

“I could just rip you open mermaid”

Hyunjin started to down right shake when the knife traced the line of his jaw, slightly digging into his skin, almost breaking it. Jisung’s breath was hot against his face, words almost whispered when the pirate made his weapon dance around on Hyunjin’s pristine white skin.

“like that I wouldn’t have those thoughts about you”

Opening his eyes wide, Hyunjin plunged his blue orbs in the dark chocolate shade of Jisung’s ones. The pirate’s breathe was short in his throat, red on his cheeks and chest heaving up and down. The man suddenly groaned deep in his throat, eyes fiery as they stared at the mermaid.

“I wouldn’t see you in my dreams, wouldn’t crave..”

His words were only whispers now, and the knife previously digging into his skin was now gently tracing his face. When the point reached his lips, circling them, tracing their plump shape with the metal, Hyunjin exhaled.

“crave me?”

It’s as if Hyunjin’s voice rose Jisung’s arousal right away, the man closing his eyes tightly and breathing deep through his nose, hand trapping Hyunjin against the wall suddenly clenching on the wood next to his face.

“what did you do to me mermaid?”

The warmth of the pirate’s skin radiated through his own shirt, making Hyunjin feel so hot underneath his clothes, flesh calling for the man’s hands on it.

“I could ask you the same thing, dirty pirate”

The groan coming from the man before him made him shake from his very core, eyes fogged up with want. The knife suddenly fell on the floor, freeing Jisung’s hand that harshly tore apart Hyunjin’s shirt, leaving the mermaid’s chest bare of anything except from the iridescent black necklace.

“I’m going to show you how dirty I am mermaid”

Hyunjin’s whimper was muffled but the plump lips harshly colliding with his own, almost cutting his flesh as he felt Jisung’s teeth bit on his lower lip. Jisung’s lips moved on top of his own, coaxing his mouth open in a dirt kiss.

The pirate’s tongue caressed his in a sensual ballet, teeth biting on it as Hyunjin’s moaned in the kiss. The mermaid’s hands burrowed themselves in the blonde locks, gripping them as harshly as the man was kissing him. Jisung’s moan was lost somewhere in his mouth or on his neck, when the pirate stopped kissing him to bite on his neck, hard.

“Oh god!”

“I’ll teach you how to scream my name Hyunjin”

Hyunjin’s moan was louder than the thumping of his heart, when the pirate grabbed his thighs harshly, manhandling him around so that the mermaid was laid down on the bed. Silky sheets against his naked torso, Hyunjin griped them harshly when he felt his pants and shoes being torn of his body, letting him naked under the hungry stare.

“Jisung”

His name sounded so wonderful in his throat Jisung almost moaned out of pleasure. Hyunjin looked at him from where he was laid down on the bed, thighs quivering on each side of the pirate’s hips and eyes teary with pearl of impatience.

“you’re so sinful Hyunjin”

Hyunjin heard the sound of fabric being ripped before seeing the naked and absolutely delicious torso of the pirate. Hyunjin stared in aw, fingers flying to the tanned skin to dance on that taunt flesh, eyes roaming the muscles hungrily.

Hyunjin didn’t lose one second to grab the glorious and thick cock that spread free from Jisung’s pants when the pirate lowered them, earning himself a groan of appreciation. Gently mouthing at the thin white scars on the man’s skin that lithered his pecs and prominent abs, Hyunjin let his inner animal loose. His tongue ran along the ridges of the pirate’s muscles, finally tasting that skin he wanted to touch for so long.

Hyunjin moaned low in his chest, eyes rolling in his skull from pleasure when Jisung harshly grabbed his hair to make him lay down, which he complied to do quickly.

“so fucking beautiful”

Hyunjin was manhandled on his stomach, strong hands grabbing his hips in an iron hold and raising his backside slightly so that he could feel the strong body above him collide gently with his. Feeling every part of his back being covered by the pirate’s body made Hyunjin whimper, his mind lost as he gripped the sheets harshly.

Rough hands parted his ass cheeks, and he only had the time to raise his face from against the covers, when he felt the pirate harshly take possession of his body. Pain shouted through his skull and everyone of his bones as he felt like being ripped in half.

Despite that, his hand rose up to tangle his fingers in the blonde locks when Jisung’s face came close to his, mouth tracing wet patterns on the skin of his jaw and neck. Breath rapid and short in his throat, Hyunjin all but screamed when Jisung’s hips started to move inside of him.

Body pliant under the pirate’s touch, Hyunjin’s hips rose up from themselves to feel more of the man’s cock inside of him with each move. Hammering inside of his body, Jisung held him roughly, like a bird of prey holding his meal, and Hyunjin felt exactly like this, as if Jisung was devouring him.

“Jisung!”

His voice was loud but fragile, trembling as his body was rocked up and down, Jisung’s moves inside his body sending his mind into a delirious state. The pleasure spread inside his bones like venom, numbing every single other feeling he could have felt, like shame, discretion and hatred towards human kind.

Because this man, hovering above him and taking him from behind, was not just any other human, he was Hyunjin’s. His head fell down on Jisung’s shoulder, eyes closed, and mouth opened around a loud scream of pleasure. Feeling Jisung’s cock hitting hard inside his body, penetrating much deeper than what Hyunjin could have imagined, the mermaid let out magnificent sounds of pleasure that made the pirate groan in appreciation.

“Jisung! Jisung please!”

Feeling himself being manhandled on his back, Hyunjin could only open his arms and welcome the strong body inside of them, closing his embrace around the strong back as Jisung continued his harsh thrusts. Mouthing the side of his neck, Jisung suddenly bit down on the skin, almost breaking it and marking the mermaid’s skin.

“Jisung-Jisung bite me above my heart”

“what?”

Jisung’s voice was deep, so much deeper than usual and raspy as he groaned from pleasure. Raising his hand, Hyunjin grabbed Jisung’s one, placing it on his left pectoral, right above his heart that was beating so hard he had trouble to think it could calm down.

“here-bite me”

Kissing the side of Hyunjin’s face, pace never faltering, Jisung’s teeth closed on the spot Hyunjin pointed, teeth creating a moon crescent in the perfectly untainted skin.  

As soon as the mark was formed, Hyunjin let a loud, radiant scream as he came on his abs and dirtied Jisung’s ones. Clenching on the cock inside him, Hyunjin felt Jisung’s hips shake, and soon, warmth spread inside of him as Jisung came in his body.

“you’re mine..”

Breath short, Hyunjin could only smile at the pirate, sweat dripping down his face as he nodded.

“yes”

And finally, as Jisung kissed his lips once more, lips feeling like honey on his, Hyunjin fell in the depth of darkness.

 

 

When the mermaid woke up, his mind didn’t immediately registered the noises around him, that he should not hear on a freaking pirate boat. Opening his eyes, he tried to ignore the pain in his back side when he rose up to sit on the bed.

Except he was not on Jisung’s bed, nor in his hammock, nor on the Howling Mary.

The sand under his fingers felt rough, humid as waves came and went, wetting Hyunjin’s feet. The mermaid’s icy blue eyes opened wide, taking in his surroundings, mind panicking when he realised he was on a beach.

Glancing around, he realised he was on an isolated area, far from the civilisation as the forest spreading behind him, and the rocks on each side of him prevented anyone from seeing his body in a laying position. Someone had laid him there, careful about the mermaid being safe.

Jisung.

Realisation dawned on him that the pirate did exactly what he told Hyunjin he would do. And now, the Howling Mary should be long gone, thinking the mermaid went away.

Tears rolled down on Hyunjin’s cheeks, paled and void of colour. The mermaid closed his arms around himself, cowering so that his sobs could not be heard, shame crawling on his skin like venom in his blood.

Blue eyes rose up, looking at the ocean, inviting, home ocean. Hyunjin cried, and moaned out in pain, heart broken in his ribs as he sobs through the pain. Tears rolled down his cheeks to lose themselves in the sand where the waves gently licked his calves.

And here, alone and broken on the side of Tortuga Island, Hyunjin swore to himself that he would never let a human hurt him again.

 


	6. Chapter 6

The mermaid was laid down, body numb from eating too much. On his face was a wicked smile, as he took in the sight of the two bodies lithering the floor of the room. Laid down on the bed, back leaning on the bed frame, long hair coming to his shoulders and creating an ink black ocean framing his bright blue eyes and gorgeous face.

“too bad you let your boat for a good time right?”

From the corner of the room, a frightened whimper echoed, sobs easily audible as the woman glared at Hyunjin with frightened eyes.

“don’t look at me like that, I spared you from a night of work.”

The prostitute whimpered before losing consciousness for the fourth time of the night, head colliding so hard with the floor she was sure to have a concussion in the morning. Signing, Hyunjin rose up from the bed, before making his way to the first cadaver he found and starting to search around his coat and pants for something to take with him.

When he was finished, he only kept a dazzling looking golden hoop. Smiling to himself, he put in next to the three others on his left ear, admiring how the silver cross amongst them shone in the light. The mirror before him showed his wicked face, devious smile still on as his feet bathed in the blood.

His white shirt opened, the scar imbedded in his skin shown, crescent bite mark painting the skin above his heart proudly. Hyunjin stared at it like he always did when it appeared, with a blank face and his heart painfully constricting in his ribcage.

Sighing like he always did when he was reminded of this man and this face he hadn’t seen in two years, Hyunjin turned away from the mirror, casting one last glance at the prostitute laying on the floor before fleeing by the window he entered.

Walking in the streets of Tortuga, Hyunjin breathed in the smell of powder, rum and fire. The smoke coming out of the different houses, bars and brothels filled his lungs. He walked with a with light steps, slow and reeling.

His legs felt energetic and his mind fresh from his meal that would last him for the next two weeks at least. Feeling the harbour’s smell in his lungs, Hyunjin crossed the streets poorly lit up, and the narrow alleys to join the sea.

Sat down on the deck, feet dangling in the void above the sea that came and went against the walls of the harbour, Hyunjin breathed in the salty taste of the ocean. Closing his eyes, he rose his face to offer it to the moon light, mind twirling from there to there, thoughts twirling in his head like birds around a corpse.

He then remembered the map he took from one of his meal, and retrieving it from his pants pocket. Opening it, he saw the map of an area he knew by heart, as it was close to his home, white cap bay. A black crossed was inked on top of a compact, barely noticeable island. The map was hand-drawn, and recent seeing as the ink was still vibrant in colour.

The person wanting to join this place obviously was the only one owning this map, and as Hyunjin knew nobody explored this area of the sea, the only one to dare adventuring himself there. Great, Hyunjin had a lot a spare time nowadays, and he always enjoyed going treasure hunting. If he could slaughter one or two pirates by the day and have a first-rate meal, it was an extra that made his mind content.

Smiling to himself and proud of his discovery, the mermaid let the map fall in the sea, staring at the paper dissolve in the water, knowing he would perfectly recognise the island he saw. After all, it was on his way home, and his mother would like a little sparkling something, she always loved human jewellery.

One minute, he was sitting on the deck, legs dangling from it, then the next, he was freely swimming in the direction of the black seas, black iridescent tail swiping from side to side and disappearing in the darkness of the ocean.  

 

 

“they say it escaped from the brothel, where it slaughtered two men. Grant, from the Black wolf found clothes on the deck, the mermaid surely left them there before coming back to the sea”

“did someone saw it?”

“Judith, the whore he spared said it was a man, with long black hair and light blue eyes, so handsome she fainted three times”

As the men at the next table shivered from both fear and excitement, one of them shrugged and raised his tankard full of rum.

“nobody can kill an adult mermaid, let’s pray it won’t come back”

“yeah, those things make my skin crawl, and damn god knows how thick that fucking skin is, eh boys?”

As the men laughed, tankards raising and throat filling up with alcohol, the crew sat down at the nearby table kept a tensed silence.

The five men glanced at the leader with the same eyes that sparkled with recognition in them. The captain, fakely kind eyes and plump lips looked at his second in command, frowning when he saw the other one was lost in his thoughts, brows furrowed and teeth biting on his lower lip.

“what do we do hyung?”

“for now, we head back to the burrow”

 

 

Hyunjin let his head poke out of the water, eyes focusing on the land he could barely distinguish into the darkness of the night. Smiling, he started swimming towards it.

The island was actually just a wide, high and abrupt rock that emerged from the ocean like a horn. But swimming around, Hyunjin was about to spot a small opening on the side of it, wide enough to let in a large bark, and therefore, a mermaid.

The cavities around him echoed with the sound of the wavs outside the island, reflects of the water running on the walls and ceiling. Soon, Hyunjin found himself in an inner room, surely dug by the waves and time.

In the centre of it, Hyunjin found a small isle, completely covered with golden coins, jewelleries and chests filled to the gut with treasures. So he found it, maybe the most impressive looking pirate treasure he ever stumbled upon.

Exiting the water, he grabbed the first cloth he saw, black pants that were a little bit too wide and oversized brown shirt that he kept open. After all, he would not be there and out of the water for long.

Stepping on the isle, amongst golden goblets and luxurious looking clothes, Hyunjin whistled. The crew owning this treasure had to be very powerful to be able to amass that kind of riches. When he glimpsed around for something to acquire for his mother, Hyunjin paled.

There, on top of a massive pile of coins and a dark wooden chest, laid a single gun, silver and shining under the light of the moon shining through the hole in the rock ceiling. On the side of the gun was written a name, and Hyunjin remembered very well where he saw that gun.

The captain of the navy’s boat he was in before meeting the Howling Mary’s crew, was actually the rightful owner of this gun, and would only let this fall in the hand of the one who killed him, Bang Christopher.

Realising where he was and who this island was owned by, Hyunjin started to frown. He never thought he would one day have to face them again, and he was not eager to do so, particularly one person.

“I would like to know how you arrived there Hyunjin”

Almost jumping out of his own skin, the mermaid turned around to face the entire crew of the Howling Mary, except Jisung, surely staid on board to keep the boat.

“Chris, hello”

Chuckling, the pirate had his arms crossed in front of his chest, and stared at the mermaid disapprovingly, still with a smile on his face. At his side, Felix was smiling like a fucking child, bouncing on his feet with the urge to join his best friend.

“Lix, please don’t-“

 “HYUNJINIIIIEEEEE!!”

“thanks Jeongin”

Jeongin all but run and lashed himself on the mermaid, who opened his arms and welcomed the screeching boy inside them. Soon Felix had joined them, and the two pirates were asking a whole lot of questions to the poor unsuspecting mermaid.

“where have you been Hyunjin?”

“that’s what I’d like to know. That, and how you stumbled upon our burrow”

Hyunjin smiled at the two younger men, then to the captain and to the four other pirates whom were staring at them with a smile on their faces.

“well, I received a message from my kind, telling me my mother was sick, so I chose to swim to them, more dangerous but faster actually. I’m sorry I had not the time to say goodbye.”

“it’s fine, Jisung told us you had to leave and said you were sorry”

At that, Hyunjin snorted, but no one noticed the dark shadow that crossed his eyes at the mention of this massive fat lie.

“and for the how I got here part, I actually stumbled upon a not so exquisite meal that had a map on him, leading right to you burrow captain”

Chris frowned, arms falling by his sides as his expression hardened, eyes fiery and ready to kill.

“who the fuck knew that?!”

“I don’t know Chris, I don’t ask them their name before eating you know”

“I know it was you! bad Jinnie!”

Smiling smugly to Jeongin, Hyunjin earned himself a pinch on his ribs and whimpered before playfully shoving aside the youngest of the crew.

“you’re the only humans I tolerate, don’t get on my bad side you little pest”

“just try Jinnie-“

“Stop that boys, we have to get out of here.”

“Captain?”

Chris’ face was sombre and heavy as he observed his crew, Minho nodding slightly when he understood what his captain was up to.

“if someone knows where our burrow is, then we have to find somewhere else.”

“but where?”

The pirates were slightly lost, shrugging, before Hyunjin’s smug voice echoed in the cavity.

“I have somewhere”

Minho looked at him, Chris too, their faces curious.

“really?”

“oh yes”


	7. 7

The boat was the exact same as it was when Hyunjin left it. As soon as they were on board, Felix fled in its crow nest to watch, Jeongin in the rigging, Woojin, Minho and Seungmin on the deck as they roamed around to make it work.

“Chris, I had to-”

He didn’t change either. His face was fierce, sand locks falling on his face, partially hiding his fiery eyes that sparkled with a slight fire in them when they fell on Hyunjin’s frame.

The mermaid observed as he breath visibly quickened, immense brown eyes almost disappearing behind widen pupils as they took in the much healthier state of the mermaid.

“Something up Jisung?”

Brown eyes darted from Hyunjin to Chris, forced smile coming to his lips as the second in command shook his head.

“everything’s fine, but we should by Tortuga, we lack of someone to climb in the riggings”

At that, Chris glanced at a very smug looking Hyunjin, who still stared at Jisung with that fake smile on his lips.

“no need, Hyunjin is coming back to us. he’ll lead us to another burrow, this one is no longer safe”

“Hyun-Hyunjin is coming back, okay fine”

“Don’t worry Jisung, I won’t be a bother. And after all..”

Hyunjin stepped towards him, feline walk and wicked eyes plunging into the dark brown of those stunning irises.

“I’m sure you missed me”

Turning around, Hyunjin smiled one last time before heading to the rigging, head held high, still feeling the stare on his back.

“Hyunjin, are you sure your hide is safe?”

Turning around to face Chris with a wicked smile on his gorgeous face, Hyunjin chuckled.

“oh yes Captain, it’s the safest place I know”

 

 

“White cap bay?! Are you serious Hyunjin?!”

“You wanted a safe place? There, a safe place”

“Minho is right Jinnie, how do you expect mermaids to let us land on the white cap?”

“Chris, remind me what I am?”

“right Chris, he’s a fucking mermaid, those are surely his family”

“it’s Captain Felix, and thank you very much for that obvious fact.”

“yeah, Captain outside the bedroom”

“Changbin, one more word and you end up in the water to say hello to Hyunjin’s family.”

Chuckling, Hyunjin observed the crew, discreet smile on his face as he took in their state of panic. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the way Jisung glanced at him, hungrily, and slightly apprehensive.

“don’t worry nothing bad will happen, I’ll just need to get down on a bark to talk to them.”

“why in a bark?”

“I need to show them one of the crew member so that they don’t feel too wary to let you pass”

“okay, I’ll go with you”

“it’s okay Chris, you’re the captain you need to stay on the boat. No.. someone else, Jisung maybe? You’re second in command after all, no?”

Jisung visibly tensed, jaw clenched as he looked at the mermaid with a glare.

“okay, Jisung you board with him”

“yes Chris”

If anyone saw how smug and wicked Hyunjin looked, they didn’t say anything. Particularly Chris, who observed them with a frown on his face as they hoped in a bark, his second in command looking wary.

 

Hyunjin glared at him, all smile departed from his face as Jisung rowing as if his life depended on it. The waves of the bay made the bark sway slightly, not even for the two man to move around, but enough for Hyunjin to feel slightly sick.

“here is correct, stop the boat and let’s wait”

“wait for what?”

“for them to scent me and come my way”

“and if they attack the boat?”

“they won’t, my smell is all over it”

“your? Okay nevermind”

The mermaid felt his heart shake in his ribs, feelings all over the place when he was face to face with the man who marked him for the first time in two years.

“why did you abandon me?”

Jisung glimpsed at him eyes widened, a hard glint in them as they took in the mermaid’s hard stare.

“really? Right now?”

“sorry to jump on the first opportunity of knowing why you left me alone on that fucking beach”

“I have nothing to tell you, I own you nothing”

“we had sex Jisung! We had sex and you left me to roast on a fucking deserted beach and told the crew I was gone!”

“that’s not that big of a deal isn’t it? It’s just sex, now sorry for the lie part, but your presence was distracting the crew from doing its job correctly, I only did my job of second in command.”

“Are you fricking kidding me?”

Jisung stared at him incredulously, face hard as his eyes darkened with anger the more Hyunjin was pushing his boundaries.

“okay maybe I was a little bit rough, it had been a while since I had the opportunity to untense, sorry it landed on you, I should have got down and go to the brothel, sorry. Now, can we move on from that?”

Hyunjin looked at him totally distraught, eyes wide open as his mind registered the words thrown his way. His ribcage suddenly shrunk on his heart, pain flowing his chest as if is bones pierced through his flesh and inner gills.

Flesh itchy, Hyunjin looked at that man that sighed, inspecting the water for any sign of life. Sand strands of hair falling on his face, colour almost white on some hair from the sun light and the salted wind. Immense, dark eyes that appeared so striking with that slight black shadow around them, plump mouth and dangling earrings catching the light.

The same he dreamt for the last two years, same man he longed for and loved so much his heart ached and his eyes filled with tears when he heard his voice in his memories.

That same man who just told him the night they spend had as importance for him as the ones he spent with harbour whores.

And suddenly, all the guilt Hyunjin felt for the murders, the cruelty he went through those last months vanished like ice under the sun rays. Eyes growing a dark, glowing blue, the mermaid remembered that promise he did to himself, back on that beach where the love of his life, and only soulmate abandoned him.

“you’re the most despicable human being I’ve ever laid my eyes on Jisung, I’m holding myself from throwing you out of this bark”

“I could do the same to you, mermaid”

“I have gills you fucking idiot”

“they’ll work less decently when I’m finished with you”

The knife Jisung got out of his belt shone under the light, glistening under the rays and hitting Hyunjin in the face with the memories.

“waouh, first the knife, and the glare, what’s the next step, laying me down in this fucking bark and martyrize my ass until my sisters are alerted from the sounds I make?”

“don’t think I’ll need that to be honest, look”

Turning his eyes in the same direction the pirate was pointing, Hyunjin spotted the reflect of light scales undulating underneath the surface. The water was almost black in this area, making it hard to see anything apart from the slight movements that started to agitate the sea.

“grab onto me”

“what?”

“fucking grab onto me Jisung if you don’t want to die”

The pirate had only the time to throw to him a sceptical eye, before thin, almost transparent whip like vane emerged from the water in his direction.

Almost making the bark tumble over, Hyunjin all but lashed himself on the pirate, making both their bodies fall on the boat’s planking. Body hovering above Jisung’s ones, Hyunjin tried not to think about the warmth of it, or the hands that grabbed his hips and didn’t let go.

Panting, the two pirates stared at each other, hearts still hammering inside their chests from the sudden attack.

“thanks for that”

“don’t thank me, I should have let her kill you”

Jisung’s stare darkened, the pirate huffing when he tried to get back on his legs, ignoring the way the mermaids was sat down on his laps with each leg on each side of him.

“and stay down”

“thank you very much but I’d rather-”

“Abyss?”

Hyunjin rose his head up, looking above the boat’s core to find one of his kind staring at him suspiciously from some meters away, tail swaying from side to side under the water.

“what are you doing in a boat?”

“hello Storm, are you alone?”

“the sisters are waiting for the signal, are you okay? We were worried, you were supposed to be back sooner, and not with an entire boat”

“not food storm, please tell the others to back off”

“you’re acting strange, what’s going on?”

Ignoring how Jisung was fidgeting under him, hips painfully rubbing against his inner thighs, the mermaid smiled tightly at his friend.

“it’s okay Storm, they’re friends, you know the ones I told you about, the pirates”

“ha yeah, is it your mate under you?”

“you’re what?”

Pressing a hand on Jisung’s chest to prevent him from raising back up, hyunjin’s jaw tensed, his eyes gaining a darker shade as he glared at him with no marvellous feelings whatsoever.

“stop moving or I’ll let them empty you of your blood”

“stop with the empty threats will you?”

 Feeling his thigh being pinched hard, Hyunjin whimpered and threw to the pirate the dirtiest stare ever, making him smirk and laugh darkly.

“Abyss?”

“Yes, sorry. Well, we’re here because they need a new burrow, and I thought Ponce de Leon’s old cavern would be great.”

“indeed. I’ll tell everyone that this boat is friend, sorry I was about to kill your mate”

“don’t worry Storm”

As the mermaid plunged back down in the depth of the sea, Hyunjin let go of the breath he was holding, still searching for some movement on the surface.

“who the fuck is Abyss?”

“I am Abyss you moron”

When Jisung glanced at him with an eyebrow raised and the best unimpressed look on his face, the mermaid sighed before letting go of his hold on the pirate’s chest. raising back up, both sailors glimpsed around for some remaining danger, Jisung discreetly sighing when he found out they were safe.

“mermaids are named after an existing thing, we don’t have names like you do. I am Abyss, she was storm, my mother is Coral. Hyunjin is the name my old human nany gave me.”

“what was your sister’s name?”  

“why do you want to know?”

“just tell me”

“Just take the reams and let’s go”

“hey”

“what now?”

“why did they call me your mate? What’s a mate anyway?”

“nothing. Now row”

The travel back to the boat was longer than Hyunjin could have thought, tense silence weighting on them like a heavy sword above their heads. The mermaid tried no to peer at the handsome man in front of him, or his muscular chest exposed by the open white shirt.

All of this while desperately trying not to think about his broken heart.


	8. 8

The road to Ponce de Leon’s cavern was quite effortless, White cap Island being quiet the peaceful place once you overlooked the mermaids and their terrifying way of staring at the pirates from just under the surface, glowing eyes locked on the men.

“that was kind of creepy, I thought they would make the boat sink and eat us all for a moment”

“oh, they wanted to, but don’t worry”

“don’t worry because you’re with us?”

“oh no, because you wouldn’t have felt a thing”

Seungmin and Minho glanced at each other gulping, before accelerating the pace and joining Chris at the front, fleeing from a laughing Felix and a smirking Hyunjin.

“and when Hyunjin won’t be with us anymore how will we cross the bay?”

“Don’t worry Jisung, Hyunjin is now part of the crew”

“The crew?”

“well, you’re always complaining someone’s missing in the rigging, now we have one, and the crew likes him”

“you like him Chris”

“well I do. He’s amusing and very hard working, I got attached to him”

“he’s a mermaid man”

“yes, don’t think it bothered you that much when you fucked him raw”

Jisung almost choked on air when his captain’s words echoed in his ear. The pirate was looking at him with a knowing glint in his eye, making his second in command uncomfortable.

“you knew?”

“all along, and I also know he never left the boat, conscious at least. Why did you leave him on this beach Jisung?”

“how do you that? Did he-”

“he didn’t say anything, but don’t think you can do things behind my back Jisung, they don’t call me eagle eye for nothing. Now, I won’t tell the others and I won’t punish you. I just want to know why you did it”

Jisung’s eyes fell on the ground as the two pirates were marching ahead of their crew, hushed whispers inaudible for the rest of the group. The second in command felt shame rise on his skin, just like it did back when he came back to the boat with the taste of Hyunjin’s lips still on his and a bruised ego.

“I just.. he makes me lose my mind Chris. Whenever he’s around, I just don’t feel like myself”

“weird, I know you since we were 5, and you never looked as cheerful and comfortable as when you’re with him.”

“what?”

“don’t deny it, those last two years you were always on edge, stressed and tensed. Each time we were crossing the path of a fishing boat you peered into their nets to see if no mermaids were in there. Not to mention you disappeared for an entire day when we landed into Fringen, just for me to learn that a mysterious someone had murdered an entire family, which happened by the biggest of miracles to be Hyunjin’s old hangmen.”

Jisung kept silent, eyes downcast more to avoid his captain’s stare to see where he was going. From the corner of his eyes he saw Hyunjin smile at Felix, the sight still making his heart jump even after two years.

“he is not making you lose your mind Ji, but if you don’t stop acting like a moron, you’ll lose him”

“I wouldn’t have imagined you talk about love, so un-pirate like”

“well, I’m a man before being a pirate, and I’m a man in love, even if that makes me the biggest faggot of the entire Caribbean.”

Jisung laughed.

 

The cavern was huge, rock walls expending all the way up to four or five times the big mast. Naturally lit up inside from a hole in the ceiling of the mountain, rays of sun fell on the most beautiful boat the crew ever saw.

The Santiago, famous ship of the great Ponce de Leon, and the most magnificent and gigantic boat to ever roamed those seas. The wooden shell was maintained by enormous rocks on both sides of it, making the ship stand up straight as if it was still floating on the ocean.

White sails hanging flat against the masts, looking like a giant ghost wrapped in its shrouds as it stood unmoving for the pirates to admire.

“if you had told us we would be this rich coming here, we would have kissed those mermaids back in the bay Hyunjin”

Hyunjin laughed as he observed the pirates roam around and admire the giant rock cavity that was dug inside the mountain by the wind and salt of the nearby sea. Feeling in his lugs the smell of this familiar place, Hyunjin felt the urge to go out and let his body rest.

Leaving the pirates behind, Hyunjin excused himself and exited the cavern, walking slowly to the nearest sea front.

 

Feeling his tail sway in the water was the best feeling Hyunjin ever felt to be honest. Leaned against the rocks that defined the small creek he dived in, he observed his black iridescent fin shimmer under the light of the sun. the water was so pure and translucent that one could see every detail of Hyunjin’s tail, from the black shiny scales to the green and blue reflects it took under the light.

Hyunjin touched from the tip of his fingers the necklace that ever left his neck, just like he did each time he felt down or nostalgic. Each time he observed the sea, he could not hold himself back from imagining what could have been his life with his sister. If they escaped together, if she had been there when he fled.

He imagined them swimming together, hunting together in the harbours, playing outside the water, exploring the Island, far from humans and their cruel hearts.

But his sister was long gone, and his dreams were a fantasy impossible to hold onto. And as Hyunjin closed his eyes and remembered the smiling face of his little sister, he tried to imagine how she would look like now, years after. She was a year younger than him, and looked so much like him, maybe she would still have that mole under her eye, just like Hyunjin had, and those pouty lips, and that wonderful looking black hair that fell on her back and floated around her head in the water like a halo.

“Waouh, Jinnie..”

Torn apart from his dream, Hyunjin almost jumped out of his scales, opening his eyes wide only to find the entire crew staring at him from the sand.

“I never saw a real mermaid’s tail..”

Silence fell on the group as each member sported a curious face on, eyes focused on the way the shimmery tail’s scales reflecting the sun rays inside the water, creating blue and green flecks on colour on the rock and sand.

“That looks exactly like the scale on your neck. Does every mermaid have that colour?”

Jeongin was so interested that Hyunjin smiled, slightly uncomfortable but trusting of his new crew enough so that he swayed his tail in the youngest’s direction. The brunette glanced at it with large eyes, before timidly letting his fingers run alongside the scales, earning a laugh from Hyunjin.

“stop that it tickles”

Minho exploded in laughter, everyone shortly following him as they took in the reddened cheeks of the mermaid and the way the long member trembled slightly under Jeongin’s fingertips.

Only Jisung didn’t laugh, looking so amazed by the dark thing that he forgot to put on his usual uninterested face, and stared like a mesmerized child that had found a new toy.   

“I have the same tail as my sister’s, because we’re from the same family. But not every mermaid has this, actually most of us have green or pink or blue scales. Colours like black or violet are not unheard of, but much rarer.”

Nodding in understanding, Jeongin was busy playing with the shimmering scales, so much that he didn’t see the dark stare Jisung threw him, quickly elbowed by Chris.

“You never told us your sister’s name Jinnie.”

Hyunjin stared at Felix with the same sorrowful glint in his eyes he always had when talking about his family.

“Felix you should know better than-”

“Pearl”

Everybody looked surprised that hyunjin actually answered, particularly Jisung who raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.

“her name was pearl. And mine is Abyss. Nice to meet you”

The pirates chuckled, eyes sad nonetheless, as they observed the mermaid, the fake smile on his face not fooling anyone.


	9. 9

“WATCH OUT BOYS!”

Their captain’s voice echoed amongst the chaos of the fight, gun powder in the air, and screams all around as Hyunjin searched for an escape.

He was currently facing three sailors of a merchant boat, the men staring at him as if they already won, ready to avenge the poor man laying at Hyunjin’s feet, almost cut in half and his upper body bleeding everywhere on the pirate’s shoes.

“you’re gonna pay for that, pirate”

As the three men were about to lash themselves onto the brunette, two gigantic swords pierced through two of the men’s bellies, the sound of flesh tearing apart echoing on the boat as they fell to their knees. Quick, the third one turned around to face the new comer, but too slow nonetheless, one of the heavy weapon beheaded him right away, his head rolling on the ground until it reached Hyunjin’s feet.

Face covered with blood, each hand holding one of those magnificent and heavy twin swords, Jisung looked at Hyunjin with a smirk on his face, and a new scar to add to his collection on his left arm, where blood was already staining his cream shirt.

“don’t sleep mermaid”

“shut the fuck up Jisung”

And when a large and tall shadow hovered over Jisung’s back, Hyunjin had only the time to throw his body forwards, sword sinking into the chest of one sailor standing with his gun raised to Jisung’s head.

Panting, Hyunjin had only the time to register Jisung’s strong arms around his waist before the two pirates tumbled over and fell, Jisung’s back hitting the boat’s deck harshly, tearing a deep groan from the second in command.

Hyunjin hovering above him, the mermaid sat down, his backside resting comfortably on Jisung’s hips as he panted and swiped the sweat falling from his forehead.

“Is this going to become a habit?”

Jisung’s pained voice only echoed on the deck when Hyunjin grabbed the Sailor’s gun fallen near him and rose it in front of his face. The gun shot sounded like a canon firing when Hyunjin pulled the trigger, his arm almost being torn off of his body when the backlash made his hand raise above his head.

Felix only had the time to turn around before seeing the sailor about to slaughter him from the back stagger a little bit, before falling head first in the ocean, body going limply above the rail.

“Thanks Jinnie!”

Hyunjin had only the strength to nod once, head heavy, before his body fell forwards and into Jisung’s arms that closed around him. Trying to ignore the warmth and the comfort that strong embrace brought to his heart, Hyunjin groaned from the pain spreading through his muscles.

“Tired mermaid?”

“I have a name you moron”

Their captain’s voice echoed loudly on the deck, announcing their victory as no sailor was standing anymore, bodies pilling on the boat and blood sipping through the boards of the deck.

“finally”

Jisung chuckled at the mermaid’s words, noticing how thin and weak his tired voice was becoming.

“it’s two to one.”

“what?”

“I saved you twice, you saved me one. Two to one”

“are you fucking counting that mermaid?”

“yeah”

Jisung chuckled, body suddenly reacting at their closeness, when his crotch brushed against Hyunjin’s thin hips.

“I’m not going to act as your mattress, get up Hyunjin”

“finally”

“finally what?”

“you realised I had a name you fucking idiot”

“shut up mermaid.”  

 

Their boat was once again in Tortuga’s harbour, the crew cheering after their leader told them they deserved a day off after that successful boarding of the merchant boat. Hyunjin had shook his head when Chris asked him if he wanted to come with them.

“the less humans I see, the better I feel”

Chan had laughed, his grey hair falling in his face as he nodded.

“Fine, you keep the boat then, Jisung is landing with us”

“really?”

It was no secret the second in command was much more comfortable on his boat than on the land, him landing was practically unheard of.

“yeah, probably going to the brothel”

Chris glared at a shrugging Minho, eying his pirate like a dead man.

“it’s okay I’ll keep the boat.”

He had said with desolated eyes that he poorly tried to conceal.

 

And now he was there, head laid down on his arms that he had crossed on the back railing, admiring the sea at the back of the boat, that extended ahead and beyond. Waves shimmered under the moon light, casting reflects on the water as if diamonds grew from under the surface.

The ocean was his home, his everything, where he lived and where he came from. And no matter what would happen, it would be where he would always come back to. Hyunjin thought about his family, his mother back home, his sister and his friends.

From the tip of his finger, he touched the shining black scale around his neck. Its smooth surface so soft under the pad of his forefinger, just like his own. Smiling to himself, he rose his head up to the sea, eyes losing themselves on the surface of the glistening water, heart heavy in his chest.

Maybe on day he could think about her with a true smile on his face. Maybe he would be able to talk about her, tell his friends how much of a sweet heart she was, without tearing up and feeling his chest constrict in pain.

Maybe one day Hyunjin would feel happy about those memories, maybe the love he felt would one day transform his rage and anger into the sweet nostalgia Chris taught him about. Maybe one day, he could be like Chris, courageous, fierce and thinking about his path with strength in his chest. But for now, he observed the sea, heart painfully pumping blood in his aching body.

 

Feet treading on the harbour’s cobbles, Jisung felt his lungs filling with smoke and the smell of cheap alcohol made his heart sway inside his chest from the sudden urge of vomiting. Tortuga was animated, as always, even this late in the night, merchants selling riches and provisions to the sailors and the citizens. Some prostitutes were laughing near a famous brothel Jisung knew rather well, their dresses showing their prominent breasts that jumped when the breathed.

Around this cramped world, oil lamps glowed weekly, casting shadows in some areas of the city and making it appear like an out this world place, where the light cohabited with darkness, acceptable people searching for redemption frolicking with soulless pirates and murderers.

Taking a turn in one of the dark alleys, Jisung separated from the rest of the crew, nodding towards his captain that smirked at him, guiding his men towards the next bar. Breath calm in his throat and eyes slightly blurry from the ambient fog that drowned the harbour in a thin veil, the second in command slowly plunged into the dark part of Tortuga.

He crossed path with more prostitute, denying them his attention when they tried to lure him into one of the houses, cold stare focused as he advanced quicker and quicker. Around him, his shadow followed faithfully, sword heavy against his thigh and gun comforting inside his vest.

The more he strolled further into the town, the more the people altered, and the noise silenced. From afar he could hear the laughs of drunk pirates and the joy of the sailors coming back home, diminishing as the man dived in the darkness of the alleys. Fog became heavier as he crossed path with less and less people, rats running between his feet and eyes attentive to anything that moved.

Jisung recognised the door amongst the dark wooden ones, this particular one being of a dark burgundy colour and sporting a lion head as a knock. His hand rose as he knocked three times, entering the house without glancing behind him.

“Ah Jisung, it’s been a long time, what brings you here?”

The man was fitting his shop, his fogged glass eye moving in the wrong direction and making him look comical, if not for the golden tooth at the front and the very scary elongated and sharp shape of his face that made him look like those cunning sharks no sailors wanted to stumble upon.

“I would like to ask you a question”

“about?”

“mermaids”

The man hummed in acknowledgment, bones cracking from everywhere as he sat down on a worn-out single chair that looked like it had the same age as the man himself. glimpsing around the dimly lit shop, Jisung tried not to smile at the variety of things he spotted on the shelves, like fish scales, eyes in glass pots, one giant trident and a weird looking naturalized frog that stared at the pirate oddly.   

“I’d like to know what a mate is”

“a mate? for a mermaid?”

“yes”

“and how did you stumbled upon that word, pirate?”

Jisung smirked at the man, face closed and lips tightly shut. Understanding he would not get anything out of this one, the old man smiled, one of his tooth ready to fall right into his cup of fuming tea.

“well, the mermaids have what they call a mate. it’s like a soulmate, they find them, fall in love, and will never hand their hearts over to anyone else, ever. Those creatures can be real nightmares, but their quite the romantic ones”

“is it possible for a human to be a mermaid’s mate?”

“well technically yes.”

“and does the human will know?”

Looking at Jisung with a fierce eye, the man smirked knowingly, which earned him a dark stare.

“one of my friends was a mermaids’ mate, and he told me once that he felt like going cray around her. Like his heart was beating differently, basically, he never felt as brilliant as he did with her. Until she killed him”

“she killed him? Her own mate?”

“mermaids are very passionate creatures Jisung. If they feel like their love is unrequited or betrayed, they will or kill their mates or kill themselves. That mermaid beheaded him before tearing her own heart out of her chest after that. Tragic truly.”

“well thank you for those information, how much do I own you?”

“oh don’t worry, my words are free.”

Nodding, the pirate turned around and opened the door to leave, when the old man’s voice echoed in the room once more.

“If you’re not sure about your mermaid, ask them to bite you above the heart, that’s where their mate mark is”

Jisung’s eyes widened.

 

 

Hyunjin was not expecting anyone to come back at this hour, so when steps echoed on the deck right behind him, he blamed himself for dozing off and letting the boat without a watch to keep it safe.

He only realised the familiar silhouette was Jisung’s one when the face of the man he loved appeared in front of him, strong body trapping his against the back railing. Eyes black and features serious, the pirate glared at him suspiciously for a moment, before his eyes wandered on his chest.

“what the hell are you doing?!”

All but slapping the hand away from him, Hyunjin only had the time to widen his eyes when the rough hand tore his large shirt open, buttons flying everywhere and tinting as they fell on the wood of the deck.

Jisung’s eyes darkened at what he saw on Hyunjin’s chest. Right above his heart, a moon crescent shape of a bite mark painted the chest, the scar whiter than the rest of the pristine skin, almost glowing on the flesh.

“what are you doing?!”

“I knew it”

“you knew what?!”

“don’t think I’ll let you go after that”

“after what for fuck’s sake?!”

Harsh movement making his hips bang against the railing, Hyunjin’s whimper was muffled by the two plump lips roughly kissing his mouth.

The familiar taste of Jisung’s tongue filled his brain when it caressed his lips and tongue, large hand tilting his face so that the pirate could ravage his mouth. Teeth biting on his lower lip, Hyunjin felt his instincts strike, fangs sharpening as he cut Jisung’s tongue with them.

The smell of blood and the metallic taste flowed his senses, a moan echoing between them as he lapped at Jisung’s tongue with his, making the pirate chuckle in a low voice.

“I got you Hyunjin, and I’m not letting you go, ever”

Eyes opening on a sparkling ice colour, Hyunjin smiled at him, fangs showing and crescent eyes glowing with joy.

“dirty pirate”

And Jisung could only moan in this smooth voice of his when Hyunjin’s hands suddenly tore open his shirt, fangs plunging in his skin, marking right above his heart the same crescent shape. Jisung had only the time to register the smooth a deep voice echoing in his hear, before he felt his body fall forwards, Hyunjin’s arms embracing him as he lost consciousness.  

“My dirty pirate”


	10. The History of the Howling Mary

9 Years prior

 

Chan’s fist clenched so hard his joints were white and red from the blood dripping down from his knuckles. Face hard and closed to any emotion that could have crossed his features, only hatred painted the back of those usually so expressive eyes. At his side, Jisung looked at the carnage with the same emotions crossing his mind.

“that’s unfair”

“life is unfair Jisung”

“yeah, and what do we do now?”

Chris took his time to reflect to what his best friend told him, eyes focused on his younger sister’s head fallen ion the ground, separated from his body at the other side of the room. His father was lying in his blood, belly open and insides hanging out, when his mother had been surely raped judging from the state of nakedness of her body, before being beheaded just like his 7 years old sister.

Both 12 years old looked at the mess with what could have seem to be indifference. But their bodies were shaking internally with rage, from witnessing the murder of their family and adoptive family. Chris peered inside Jisung’s eyes, dilated pupils burning with a new-found goal to lead their miserable lives.

“We find those motherfuckers, and we end them”  

 

It took four years of work, theft and other crimes to gather enough money and lonely souls to buy a boat and board a crew. They were five at the very beginning, Chris took the lead, followed by his second in command and adoptive brother Jisung. Changbin had stumbled upon them in a dirty and poorly lit bar, orphan like them and heart craving for freedom.

Minho had been sold by his family to a brothel, and escaped quickly, the guy was clever and quick, and Changbin found in him a companion of bother to piss off their second in command.

Before they left their native town, a last member join them in the person of Seungmin, Minho’s cousin and free-spirited teenager.

They roamed the ocean like this, hearts wild in their chests and head full of dreams and goals. They started off with small boats, merchants barks and small crimes, only to gain a name in the pirate world. Their ship was recognisable, with her white shell and black sails ripped at some places. High in the sky the black flag of the pirates was sitting in state, telling everyone those teenagers were not to be messed with.

 

Some years into their new life, and the crew had grown. To the five teenagers were added two more people, Jeongin the youngest of them and an orphan just like the majority of them, and Felix.

Felix, sweet Felix whom they first saw running away from some navy sailors trying to have a piece of him. Chris had held his gun in front of his face, firing on them and killing them one by one right before the strawberry beauty fell into his arms, eyes sparkly with tears and face red.

Very quickly Chris had taken a liking to the latest member of his crew. His immense, bright eyes and his tiny nose to his pouty lips and cute freckles made him weak in his chest. Chris was a cruel man, not afraid to slaughter those who came his way, particularly the fuckers that had killed his family, and that he had tortured and killed until the last one those past two years.

But he was also considerate, and his heart felt warm each time Felix glanced at him from under those black and thick lashes. And the day the younger came into his cabin, eyes wet and body trembling from a nightmare, was the day things changed between them.

And now, 21 years old Chris had no more troubles to admit that this petite man in his arms was the best thing that ever happened to him, and that he could surrender everything for him and his happiness. Luckily for him, Felix’s happiness was entirely relying on Chris and his ability to love him.

In any way, shape or form.

And finally, the last addition to his crew, Hyunjin the mermaid. Hyunjin the man that suffered so much his eyes sparkled with hurt all time of the day when you knew where to look into that blue ocean.

And of course, Jisung fell for him, quick and shameful fall that made his mind turn into a coward in love. Chris had first laugh, then was irritated from his second in command’s behaviour, then was amused. And now, he was delighted. His crew was complete, functional and fusional and their name and the name of their boat was one of the most feared pirate crew of the Caribbean.

And as Chris admired his lover fast asleep on his torso, hair sticking every direction and breath slow and steady against his neck, he knew he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

 


	11. 11

4 Years after

 

“DUMBASS WATCH OUT!”

Spinning on his heels, Jisung rose his massive sword in the air before expertly cutting the man behind hi in half, from the shoulder all the way down to his opposite hip, the body falling onto the ground in two heavy thuds, parts of the man separating and splashing Jisung’s boots and face with specks of insides and blood.

Swiping some of the crimson liquid off his face, Jisung turned around to wink at the beauty currently handling agilely the two golden carved guns he always kept at his belt. The metal shone under the light of the sun rays briefly, catching the man’s attention, but too late, as Hyunjin fired and the sailor fell hardly on the deck of the boat, lifeless and a hole in his forehead.

“nice hem love”

“shut up Jisung and concentrate, I’m not sewing you back together again!”

Laughing out loud despite the chaos happening on the deck and Minho’s heavy eye roll, Jisung made the two swords in his hands dance around himself, the golden handle glowing despite the blood tainting him.

From the corner of his mind, he remembered briefly the day he was severely injured by that fucking sailor back there in the Seagulls bay. That bastard had been good, great even, and even if Jisung was better, the pirate still get away with a little memory of the now dead sailor.

He remembered how Hyunjin had screamed, then cried, then frowned, then tried to strangle him as he bled from his shoulder on the deck of their boat, large cut almost ripping his neck and upper chest in half.

Now just the scar remained, a thick white line that crossed his shoulder and left pectoral, easily noticeable when Jisung was wearing his usual oversized shirts. Sometimes he caught Hyunjin staring at it and frown, and each time he kissed the mermaid between his perfect brows, reminding him he was there, and safe.

 

Chris felt the bullet graze his temple before he heard the blunt sound of the trigger and the scream that sounded oddly like Felix’s voice. Turning around at the speed of light, his own gun raised in front of his head, a second gun shot echoed on the boat before the man before him, and the captain of the boat they boarded, stumbled backward and collapsed on the upper deck, a hole in his chest where his heart stopped beating.

“CHRIS!”

Just as the last sailor of the boat fell down on his knees, a light weight jumped on his chest, harshly colliding with his and making both of them almost stumble over. But the captain didn’t fucking care, not when he saw death pass right beside his ear and heard the desperation in his small lover’s voice.

“oh my god Chris I thought you would-I thought”

“calm down pretty I’m alright.”

Felix suddenly started to cry, relief taking in and surely easing the pain of almost losing the most important person of his life. Around the intertwined couple, the crew was staring at them, uneasy at the realisation they almost lost their leader in what should have been one simple boarding.

“I’m alright, I’m alright”

Those words were comforting, but not that reassuring when the crew knew that they could be a lie tomorrow if something happened to their captain. Because it was their job, their life, just like when Jisung had almost died, or when Seungmin fell in the ocean and nearly drowned. This was their fate, to never be sure of their future, and to enjoy every little moment of the present, when they were still breathing.

Chris was painfully reminded of that when he rocked from side to side the petite body and kissed Felix’s temple lovingly.

“I love you”

 

 

“I almost shitted my pants to be honest”

“me too, I genuinely thought we had lost him”

Jisung sighed, shirt falling on the ground as he was stripping from his clothes in front of their beds, where Hyunjin was already laying down, in only a thin white veil of sheets on his naked body. They landed in White Island this morning just after that disastrous boarding, and Jisung felt relieved they were all safe and sound in their burrow.

He was also glad that no one had to stay up and guard tonight, and surely he was not the only one as every member of the crew was currently sleeping in their bedroom. Chris had had a brilliant idea when he asked the mermaids permission of permanently develop in the old cavern an entire place of living.

rooms had been organized inside the old boat of Ponce de Leon, each member choosing his space to stay in. they liked to come often, when their boat was bending under the weight of riches or when they needed the land to feel safe and grounded. That was one of those days.

Chris had announced three weeks of land, and each member was already planning his days around the island, which was quite large and beautiful to explore. Minho and Seungmin thought about going to the ancient fountain of Jouvence, Jeongin wanted to befriend a mermaid, Changbin wanted to prevent him from doing so, Woojin planned on roaming the island for new aromatic plants and new recipes ideas for when they will be aboard.

Felix and Chris had nothing planned officially, and Jisung suspected them of wanting to stay alone and enjoy some quality time together, something he definitely planned on doing with Hyunjin, even if he knew the mermaid also had to go back to the sea to spend time with his family.

But tonight, it was all about he and his mermaid. Glancing in the direction of the bed, Jisung saw his lover stare at his body hungrily, blue eyes roaming around the skin and practically stripping him from his pants. The pirate smiled, letting his fingers drop his heavy leather belt and his pants on the ground.

Hyunjin’s eyes became dark, almost abyssal blue as they took in the naked state of his lover, and the still flaccid member, that he knew rather well.

“come here so that I can lick that to full hardness”

“what a dirty mouth mermaid”

Crawling on all four like a predator, Hyunjin looked at him under those thick eyelashes with a stare that made Jisung groan low in his throat. Reaching his prize, Hyunjin glanced at those abs and scars with more passion and love than Jisung could have ever hoped, and the pirate caressed the white perfect cheek from the tip of his fingers.

“you don’t mind my mouth being dirty sometimes”

Jisung smirked, that smirk that made Hyunjin week on his knees and bend under the pirate’s will. That face that could make him forget everything, the ocean, his family, his crew, the years passing at a bullet train speed. And whenever he plunged into those bright black eyes, he felt like he was 18 all again, the last four years feeling like a week.

“I love you dirty pirate”

Kneeling down so he was levelled with his mermaid’s face, Jisung looked at him like he always did, with a heart beating wild in his chest, and war crawling in his veins. Lovesick they called him, and they were right, his mermaid had mesmerized him into happiness.

“I love you my mermaid”

 

 

“I thought I lost you”

Chris sighed, back tensed under the weight of his lover’s stare. Felix was sat down on the bed, immense doe eyes focused on his captain’s muscles that rippled through the skin. The oil lamp dimly lit up the room, creating deep shadows and dark corners that made this room appear out of this world.

From the tip of his fingers, Felix grazed the bed cover, deep burgundy velvet making his tanned freckled skin stand out beautifully. There was a reason why Chris chose the ancient captain’s cabin, and not for the fact that his title gave him the right to.

The room was spacious, bigger than the rest of the rooms, and richly decorated with heavy furniture and carved wood. Some statues were in there, old tapestries and golden riches all around. Like that chandelier from where a dozen of candles lit up Chris’ profile.

“but you didn’t, I’m here aren’t I?”

“I just don’t know what I would have done”

“Jisung would have taken the lead and you would have continued without me, drinking to my memory each time you passed by Tortuga”

“no, we wouldn’t.”

At that, Chris smiled from the corner of his mouth, eyebrow raising as he let his last piece of clothing fall down on the ground, and sat down in front of his little lover, hefty hand fondling his thighs tenderly.

“and what would have you done then?”

Felix’s eyes plunged into his, and the captain understood that his lover had been deeply shook from this morning, as some tears could be seen in those brown orbs. Felix always had been a soft heart and was easily touched by anything that was Chris-related. But today was serious, and Chris knew he had to reassure him.

“Changbin and Jeongin would have departed for the south, to rest in a villa like they said they would. Woojin would have probably followed Seungmin and Minho to England to open a hostel. Jisung would have came back here, where he and Hyunjin would alternate their days between mermaids and land. I think you don’t understand how much you mean to us Chris. Without you, there’s no us anymore, we’re not a crew, and the Howling Mary is an orphan”

Chris felt his heart soften in his chest, palm pressing against the side of Felix’s face, he lifted it so that he face directly facing him, soft skin pleasing the rough texture of his hand.

“and you? What would have you done Felix?”

As tears came back, the pirate expected sobs and hugs and panic attack, but was surprised when the smaller one staid steady, face calm and voice as deep as usual.

“I would have thrown myself in the ocean and came back to you”

“Felix-”

“I can’t live without you Chis. No matter what you’ll tell me, no matter what could happen to me or what happiness could occur, if you’re not here with me, life is tasteless.”

“you can live without me Felix”

“but I don’t want to”

Seeing his lover so serious, so sure of himself, made Chris felt so many kinds of things in his chest. from pride to love to pain and sorrow, he realised then the child he rescued from his pursuers was not anymore. Felix was a man now, his man.

“I don’t want to live without you either”

The smile he received was worth everything he could possess right now or in the future. And as he laid down his lover on the bed, mouth finding Felix’s and kissing away the pain of the day, his heart reminded him of the way just a simple smile, coming from this man could make him feel.

 

“Just like this, you’re doing great love..”

“Chris..”

Felix’s voice was thin in his throat, weak and so appealing to the pirate hovering above him. His thrusts were languid, slow and deliberately deep. Felix could feel him inside his body, pouring love and warm in his veins as he kissed his neck.

Hooking his legs behind the strong back, the strawberry blonde pirate felt his body melt as the hot flesh came deeper and deeper inside of him. White danced before his eyes the more Chris mouthed the side of his jaw.

Feeling a tingle running on his spine, Felix moaned in this dee voice of his when a stinging pain on the juncture of his neck and shoulder spread in his body. Chris’ teeth bit his flesh like a predator taking down his prey, almost breaking the skin as Felix closed his eyes, the idea of being marked by his lover still the best feeling in the world, even after all those years.

“Chris harder-please”

Felix knew how to rile up his man, how to talk, how to move, what expression to put on to have his way with his lover. It was not really manipulation, as Chris was very aware and very eager to play in Felix’s game. It was purely knowledge, and trust. Because Felix was proud to say he was the only one to know this man as well as he did.

His lower lip caught in his teeth, eyes hooded and shining from unshed tears, Felix batted his eyelashes at his captain, earning a deep groan that made his skin tingle and his toes curl.

Rough hands grabbed his thin thighs, manhandling his body so that the smaller pirate was almost bent in half, calves resting on his lover’s shoulders as the pirate looked at him hungrily. The thrust became suddenly much more brutal, hips colliding harshly with the flesh of his ass, and pleasure bursting through his bones like a cannon ball.

“CHRIS!”

Voice almost broken, Felix tried to grab the sheets, only to find one of Chris’ forearm and planting his nails in it, drawing blood as his head fell back on the pillow. Moans became screams as his flesh was rudely abused, the thick and long cock brushing every corner of his body without any mercy.

“You-You’re so thick C-Chris!”

Hooded eyes looking feral with that hungry glint in them, the pirate smirked, corner of his mouth raised up slightly, just like he did when slaughtering enemies or put his hands on a treasure. Naughty tongue darting out, Chris licked away the tears that spilled from his lover’s cheeks, groaning against the supple flesh at the tightness of this ass.

“I’m not the captain for no reason love”

Felix almost laughed at his captain’s cocky answer but was muted by pleasure as his sweet spot was hit harshly, a scream escaping his throat as he closed his arms around Chris’ back, holding on for dear life.

Bodies intertwined on the fine broderies that covered the bed, the oil lamp traced silhouettes on the wall of the cabin, shadows melting in one another to create a masterpiece on the wood. It was almost dancing, the way his body was rocked up and down, mind going blank from pleasure as he felt he wouldn’t last long.

“Chris-please I’m gonna-”

Plump mouth kissing his, Felix lost no time to suck on the wicked tongue that coaxed his lips open, teeth playfully grazing his lover’s flesh. Screaming in his lover’s mouth, Felix felt his walls close on the cock inside of him, channel painfully tight as his body didn’t want to let go of the thick flesh.

“you take me so good Lix, so tight”

“CHRIS!”

Head colliding with the pillow, his back arched beautifully, lithe body resembling a canvas Chris could paint of his marks and love. The walls around his cock clamped down on it, making it difficult to move inside Felix, so much the pirate groaned from pleasure.

“Chris..”

It had been just a whisper of his name, and a delighted expression that told Chris his lover was there, and when Felix’s small cock twitched and let cum land on his captain’s abs, Chris smiled adoringly. Face suddenly turning feral and blissed, Chris felt his cock enlarge, before spurting cum inside this glorious body.

Feeling the warmth crawl up inside him, Felix moaned sweetly, eyes closed as he took in the pleasure of being filled with Chris’ sperm. Sometimes, he would have liked to be born as a woman, just to be able to bare Chris’ child. But this thought was quickly erased from his mind as the huge hand took hold of his cock to milk it out, remaining of cum landing on the thick fingers.

Panting harshly, Felix all but squeezed his captain inside his embrace when the strong body collapsed on top of him. Legs closed around his man’s hips, Felix buried his hands in the dark grey hair as he felt the plump lips kissing the sweat away from his collarbones.

“I love you Captain”

Chris smiled at him, the same gentle smile he never showed anyone else. The smile that was Felix’s private happiness and secret weakness, that sweet and loving smile that would be the last thing he would think about before dying.

“I love you Felix”

And as the small pirate closed his eyes and started to fall asleep, right there inside his arms, Chris thought about how life was unpredictable and sometimes wonderful. Because from his childhood, to his family, to his long-awaited revenge, to his crew, to his boat, to his achievements and his name… Nothing was worth at least half of what the man inside his arms meant to him.


	12. Epilogue

10 Years later

 

 

 

“Yeji stop this please-YEJI DON’T BITE YOUR SISTER!”

Yeji all but jumped from her sit at the table, hitting Yuna on the head before darting outside, wide smile and fox eyes full of mischief.

“and where do you think you’re going like this young lady?”

Yeji distantly heard Yuna chuckle and would have spat on her if not for the broad man looking down on her from the entrance of the burrow. The man frowned at her, wide scar on his neck giving him that strong and impressive aura that always made Yeji lower her eyes.

“it’s not because you’re the strongest one that you have to pick on your sister. Now say sorry and get out of there, I already told you uncle Felix is not here to bear with your bullshit”

“language Jisung”

As her father rolled his eyes, Yeji smiled at her Appa, bright blue eyes mimicking the stormy glint both her sister and Appa had.

“sorry appa, I won’t do it again”

Hyunjin was almost sure he heard a “as if” coming from his lover when their eleven years old daughter all but sprinted out the cavern, quickly followed by their second one, a year younger. From the corner of his eye, he saw the two little monsters jump into the water, waves wrapping around their bodies before the two girls disappeared in the water of the bay, black iridescent tails shimmering under the light.

“Felix, how do you keep up with three children? I can’t even handle those two”

“mine are not mermaids though”

Smiling, Hyunjin climbed up the stairs Chris had made to access the old boat of Ponce de Leon, now their house, and sat down at the large wooden table that sat in the middle of the ancient deck. As Jisung wrapped an arm around his shoulders, the mermaid looked at the three girls sitting down quietly, CHaeryeong drawing with chalk on a piece of board, Lia and Ryujin calmly braiding pieces of straws together.

Hyunjin observed the 9 years old triplets, he couldn’t help himself but think they slightly looked like Felix, even though they were not blood related.

They had been 23 when Felix and he stumbled upon those three in Tortuga, abandoned in their cub in a dirty alley. Felix had batted his eyelashes once or twice and Chris melted, that and the fact that they already had a one-year-old little mermaid on the boat, and that Hyunjin was once again pregnant at the time.

That year had marked the end of their period of naïve happiness, for at the moment Hyunjin gave birth to Yuna, Felix and he had been left on White Island to rest and take care of their children. They had spent two years without any news of their lovers or of the crew, they even thought they had lost them at one point.

 

Until they saw the boat at the horizon of white cap bay, white shell dirty and black sails ripped from every corner. Felix and Hyunjin where looking from the shore, eyes concerned as they took in the state of the boat.

When the crew had landed, Hyunjin automatically noticed an empty spot in the two barks that were progressing towards them. And when the crew had landed, eyes sorrowful and faces dark, Hyunjin and Felix had staid frozen.

Changbin had been killed. This loss had taken a tole on the crew, except for Jisung and Chris who were adamant on avenging their friend’s death, who had been captured by the soldiers at Port-Royal and hung on the public place for piracy and crime against the crown.

The crew had slept and eaten well for a month, before departing again, a promise to come back quickly. Chris had kissed Felix sweetly, the pain of letting go of his lover’s hand obvious on his face as he ruffled his three daughter’s heads.

Jisung had almost stayed, if not for Hyunjin to tell him Chris wouldn’t make it without him, that he and the girls were safe there, and that he just had to come back soon. But when the black sails had disappeared behind the horizon line, Felix fell down on his knees and Hyunjin cried while rocking him in his arms.

A year had passed before the boat appeared once again, and the two pirates were warned by their daughter’s cheers when the black sails painted the sky.

Chris and Jisung had smiled so wide their faces were glowing. This time, they came back with an avenged heart, and treasures filling their boat. The crew had laughed and hugged the two pirates until they could not breath anymore.

They had eaten and celebrated.

Chris had spent at least eight hours each day teaching his daughters how to be free-spirited and strong, and how to escape their older cousin’s wrath, Yeji being a little pest. Jisung had also spent all of his time sharing himself between his two daughters and his lover, and almost cried when he realised Yuna had his eyes and Yeji had his taste for exploration and adventure.

The crew left after two months, leaving behind them two sad but hopeful pirates, and the promise of coming back every six months.

 

The crew indeed came back every six months, for five years. Until the darkest day of their life came.

Hyunjin had felt it when the boat had appeared at the horizon, his shell lithered with cannon impacts and his sails once again ripped apart. They didn’t hear the sound of the crew cheering from afar, and as Felix and Hyunjin had looked at each other warily, they sent their daughters away.

Only Chris and Jisung came down the bark, faces beyond tired, and souls heavy as they stepped on the wet sand. When Hyunjin saw the huge scar on Chris’ torso, white crossing his pectorals and disappearing in his shirt to continue on his stomach, he had felt Felix tense and almost run to him.

Their eyes had met, faces dark and bodies hard to support, and both pirates had known everything collapsed.

“We lost them”

The crew had faced a storm, a raging one that is only spoken about in books and tails. The boat had been really mistreated, and the crew had been frightened. Chris had announced they would land in Tortuga, and they did, their boat almost destroyed and their minds down in their shoes.

Chris had felt how the minds of his crew were slightly changing, from friendly teenagers and young men, they had become cruel and restless pirates that had no other motivation than gold. And Chris knew, Changbin’s loss was at the very origin of this change in his friends’ hearts. And when doubt started to cross their minds, he had given them the choice, or to stay under his command as his crew, or let him in Tortuga and find themselves another captain.

They chose, and soon, Chris left the boat, head held high as he looked at his boat and ancient crew depart from the harbour, a new captain on board going by the name of Kang Daniel, and for only hope the last enigmatic words Jisung told him.

“I’ll come back for you, with or without them”

 

And his second came back. The boat was lithered with cannonballs, sails had to be replaced, and on board was a band of pirates Chris didn’t know anything about.

“We suffered a boarding, and Daniel was a poor captain, he tried to escape the boat at the first gun shot, only to drown himself. The others were slaughtered, without a lead to guide them they didn’t know how to fight properly. Jeongin and I hid in the chocks and succeeded to escape at night with the boat while they were sleeping”

“you could have been captain Jisung, and lead your own crew”

And Jisung had looked at him, Jeongin and him only shaking their heads slowly.

“you are our captain Chris, on board or on land. And no one can replace you”

Chris had smiled, but shook his head in return, eyes sad as he understood it was over.

“I only had one crew, and now that they’re gone, I’ll return to my family and raise my daughters.”

“well, we’ll come with you”

“you’re not forced to do so, I know you love the sea”

“yeah, but I love him more”

Jeongin had stayed in Tortuga and had left some time after for France on a merchant boat. They never saw him again, but deep down they knew he would be fine.

 

 

Hyunjin admired the sea extending beyond the horizon line, blue, perfect and dazzling sea. Touching from the tip of his fingers the black scale around his neck, he sighed and thought about his sister, how she would be now, what she would say.

And he smiled.

Warmth spread in his chest, as a distant memory of a voice came back to him, held by the wind and echoed in his mind, from back in the days where his sister and him were still children. He remembered the joy and the happiness he felt when she taught him how to change, how to swim, how to breathe.

He remember the softness of her hair when it grazed his skin as they stayed sat down on the beach, upper body to the sun and tail in the salted water, as they laughed and told stories. He remembered how she talked about the future, with stars in her eyes and hope in her voice.

And he felt joy spread inside his chest, sweet nostalgia filling his heart and his body up to the very tip of his fingers. And as they touched the only thing he had left from her, he smiled brightly, eyes closing to feel the wind coming from the sea better and smell all the perfumes and the stories it told.

“are you thinking about Pearl?”

“how would you know?”

Jisung smiled at him before lowering and sitting down on the rock next to him, arm circling his shoulders and lips kissing his temple.

“you always look so happy when you do”

“there’s one time I look happier though”

Jisung’s eyebrows raised in a silent question, immense bright eyes sparkling when Hyunjin glimpsed at him with a smile on his face.

“right, I can see it”

Planting a kiss on those plump lips he loved so much, Hyunjin felt his lover’s breathe jump in his throat, just like every time they kissed. And he loved it.

“you make me feel like a mermaid should never be able to feel”

“like what?”

“above the horizon line”

 

Jisung smiled, pecking his lips gently as the voices of their daughters echoed far away. From the corner of his eye, he saw Felix and Chris quietly sitting down on the shore, their ancient captain holding his lover like a treasure as he caressed through his hair.

On the beach, the five little girls were playing, Yeji splashing water on the others while Chaeryeong laughed her lungs out.

Suddenly, something caught his attention.

“Love, call Chris, someone’s coming”

“my sisters won’t let them live”

“they already passed the border, I don’t know who it is, but they let them pass”

Hyunjin looked at the shadow, and surely, a bark was approaching the shore, a man sat down in it, face covered by a large feathery hat.

“Chris!”

“I saw!”

The ancient captain already had his gun in his hand, while Felix had stood up to run to their daughters and gather them under his protection.

Suddenly, the figure rose his hand, waving at them, and as they all frowned, the hat covering the man’s face was removed, exposing his  face.

Jisung’s eyes widened as Chris’ curse echoed through the wind. Hyunjin smiled, his sparkling blue eyes filling with tears as they took in the slightly more mature face. A gush of wind came, bringing him the perfumes the man carried with him, and a familiar feeling took place in his heart.

“Jeongin”


End file.
